BioOne.org will be down briefly for maintenance on 17 December 2024 between 18:00-22:00 Pacific Time US. We apologize for any inconvenience.
How to translate text using browser tools
1 June 2009 Island Biogeography of Galápagos Lava Lizards (Tropiduridae: Microlophus): Species Diversity and Colonization of the Archipelago
Edgar Benavides, Rebecca Baum, Heidi M. Snell, Howard L. Snell, Jack W. Sites
Author Affiliations +
Abstract

The “lava lizards” (Microlophus) are distributed throughout the Galápagos Archipelago, and consist of radiations derived from two independent colonizations. The “Eastern Radiation” includes M. bivittatus and M. habeli endemic to San Cristobal and Marchena Islands. The “Western Radiation” includes five to seven historically recognized species distributed across almost the entire Archipelago. We combine dense geographic sampling and multilocus sequence data to estimate a phylogenetic hypothesis for the Western Radiation, to delimit species boundaries in this radiation, and to estimate a time frame for colonization events. Our phylogenetic hypothesis rejects two earlier topologies for the Western Radiation and paraphyly of M. albemarlensis, while providing strong support for single colonizations on each island. The colonization history implied by our phytogeny is consistent with general expectations of an east-to-west route predicted by the putative age of island groups, and prevailing ocean currents in the Archipelago. Additionally, combined evidence suggests that M. indefatigabilis from Santa Fe should be recognized as a full species. Finally, molecular divergence estimates suggest that the two colonization events likely occurred on the oldest existing islands, and the Western Radiation represents a recent radiation that, in most cases, has produced species that are considerably younger than the islands they inhabit.

© 2009 The Society for the Study of Evolution.
Edgar Benavides, Rebecca Baum, Heidi M. Snell, Howard L. Snell, and Jack W. Sites "Island Biogeography of Galápagos Lava Lizards (Tropiduridae: Microlophus): Species Diversity and Colonization of the Archipelago," Evolution 63(6), 1606-1626, (1 June 2009). https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1558-5646.2009.00617.x
Received: 12 September 2008; Accepted: 1 November 2008; Published: 1 June 2009
JOURNAL ARTICLE
21 PAGES

This article is only available to subscribers.
It is not available for individual sale.
+ SAVE TO MY LIBRARY

KEYWORDS
Galápagos
Lizards
mitochondrial DNA
molecular timing of colonization
nuclear DNA
oceanic islands
phytogeny
RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS
Get copyright permission
Back to Top